Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #256166 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-11
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Synopsis
When Groupie was first published in 1969 it caused a sensation. The Swingin' Sixties capacity to outrage may have been starting to decline, but this novel managed to shock all over again. A thinly fictionalised chronicle of Jenny Fabian's adventures with underground rock heroes of her day, Groupie caused a furore for all kinds of reasons...it had the scent of danger that accompanies an authentic original, it ruffled feathers with its matter of fact descriptions of drug taking and sexual high jinks, it prompted guessing games about teh true identities of its principal characters, most of all, it was highly explicity about a phenomenon that had never before been documented. Almost three decades later, this book is still extraordinarily fresh and playing the celebrity guessing game is still fun. Groupie is also the genuine article - no reconstruction of Sixties underground rock culture has ever captured the Zeitgist as as well as this novel.

Customer Reviews

a must-read for any groovy chick!
The book that influenced my teenage years. A must-read for anyone even remotely interested in the late-sixties underground scene. The heroine Katie takes you on a guided tour of the hip-&-happening hotspots of the period, taking in the sights, sounds and decadent air of the era of psychedelia and flower power. A book that perfectly and vividly captures the atmosphere of the time.

Too old to 'dig', like...man.
Groupie tells the tale of 'Katie' , a 19 year old chick of the 60's, and her encounters with sex, drugs and rock and roll. The book is said to be a "thinly fictionalised chronicle of Jenny Fabian's adventures with underground rock heroes of her day" and whilst it does suceed in creating the atmosphere and setting for the 60's underground rock culture, this is from 'Katies' view point, a 'groupie' and a rather selfish, spoilt, arrogant and shallow one at that.

We witness 'Katie' move from one job to the next, one sexual encounter with 'almost' famous rock stars (hints of the Ben character being Syd Barrett) to another and treating people with disregard and contempt, especially if they don't have the right clothes, look or money.

The books description tells us how it 'caused a furore for all kinds of reasons' including;
'ruffled feathers with its matter-of-fact descriptions of drug taking and sexual high jinx;
prompted guessing games about the true identities of its principal characters;
was highly explicit about a phenomenon that had never before been documented"

These points may be so, however, what stood out for me was the way in which the 60's era, one that pointed to 'flower power' 'love' and 'peace', did, in fact, come across as a shallow, careless and selfish era of our times. If that was what the book set out to portray, and what ultimately the 'feel' of the 60's underground movement was, then Fabian and Byrne do an excellent job in documenting this.

The book itself is entertaining and offers some of the great phrases and terminology of the time. So, if you can cope with 'chicks' 'happenings' 'dudes' and lots of 'totally mans' then Groupie is the one. I did enjoy reading the book but, ultimately, wanted to give Katie a good ole fashion talking too!!
But maybe that is a sign that I am getting too old to dig!